Zachor: We Will Never Forget

Ben Lesser a Holocaust survivor, on living a life that matters.

Spry and handsome, Ben Lesser walks in looking much younger than his 85 years; a successful businessman who was blessed with a lucky life, perhaps even an easy one.

Ben after the war

Then you listen. And if you look carefully at his eyes, there is a place behind them … a place where we put those parts of our lives that can’t be fully expressed in words or even tears.

Born in Krakow, Poland in 1928, one of five children, Ben Lesser went through and survived four concentration camps including Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Durnau, the Nazi Death March, and the loss of virtually his whole family. Ben arrived in Brooklyn, New York in 1947 to reunite with his only surviving family member, his sister, Lola. Grief and horror of this magnitude goes to “that” place. It will always be there. But according to Ben we have the God-given choice to use that place for good, or let it use us for hatred, fear, and incapacity.

It is estimated there are only 350,000 Holocaust survivors remaining. The oldest, Alice Herz-Sommer, featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The Lady in Number 6 passed away in late February at the age of 110. Thanks to many organizations, books, documentaries and films in Israel and worldwide, the stories, the names where possible, the feelings, the lives of victims and helpers have been duly recorded, and recognized.

Ben at his sister’s wedding

At 85, Ben is one of the younger survivors and has his own story to tell – not just of the experience – but of “living a life that matters,” which is the title of his book that inspires determination, courage, tolerance, and survival during the darkest days the human mind and soul can imagine.

After a successful business, a long, blissful marriage blessed with two beautiful children, “that place” within him where these atrocities are felt, urged him to share his story, especially with young people, teachers and students. When he received a pin from a local Holocaust Survivors group with the Hebrew letters for Zachor ("Remember") he wore it during his talks. Suddenly he was inspired to offer pins to his audience. The response was tremendous and Zachor, the non-profit organization was officially born in 2009 to insure the story is told and the lessons of morality, tolerance, understanding and peace are taught.

Zachor is supported by donations, and in part, a grant from the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. Ben created another ingenious way to help his mission: Papa Ben’s Mandelbroyt (a bit similar to biscotti for the unfamiliar.) Ben’s father, Lazar owned a chocolate company famous for their chocolate covered wafers. Lazar shared his love of baking with his son, and during family holidays they made mandelbroyt, which became a special family tradition. Kosher, natural and in a variety of flavors, Papa Ben’s Mandelbroyt is simply the most mouth-watering treat one can imagine. You can now buy it in selected upscale markets in California, such as whole foods, as well as on the website.

Papa Ben is busy. He’s busy with talking, writing, and mandelbroyt. Fortunately, his mission has extended to the second and soon third generation as his deeply loving wife, two children, son in-law and grandchildren are also at the helm and at his side, looking to the future.

I recently asked Ben for a personal interview for Aish.com and he was graciously eager to do so.

Aish.com: Prior to the invasion of Poland, did your parents recognize the meaning of what was to come?

Ben Lesser: Of course this was after Kristallnacht. I don’t believe they, or anyone knew to what extent this would lead to; and if they did, they wouldn’t tell us, the children.

Aish.com: You survived; do you think there was a special reason you did?

Ben’s sister, Lola

BL: Maybe God needed a witness. Not all survivors can talk about it. It hurts too much. It brings back too many memories. To this day it hurts me and I still get sleepless nights. But someone has to tell the story. I thank God every day for giving me the strength.

AIsh.com: What did you tell yourself to make it through each and every day?

BL: I told myself to continue. I had an inner feeling; a drive to do anything to survive. I was 15 when arriving at Auschwitz. There was Mengele. I stood before him, stretched, saluted … and lied about my age. In German I said, “I am healthy! I’m capable of work!” I told this to Mengele. Near the end of the war on the Death March, I kept pushing myself and my cousin Isaac who wanted to give up. “We will survive,” I reassured him over and over, as I dragged him along. Right after liberation Isaac died in my arms. He was 19.

Aish.com: Given all you went through what is your most abiding memory?

BL: I was holding onto my sister Goldie and my little brother Naftali. We called him Tuli. Upon arriving at Birkenau, when they opened up the door of the cattle car they told the women and children go to the right. I was holding onto them and we were torn apart never to see each other again. They were sent to the gas chambers. It was that moment of being torn apart that is most vivid.

Aish.com: As a result of this unconscionable experience what was your most startling insight about life?

BL: I feel that life is a matter of choices. While individuals can’t always choose, when we suffer crises or calamity, people can choose to let it ruin their lives or learn from it and move forward. This is essential to understand – the consequences of personal choices. It possible that trauma can become a reason to stop living. It is also possible to live through extreme circumstances and commit to a life that has meaning, which is how I came to write my book, Living a Life That Matters.

Aish.com: Why did you write the book?

BL: Initially I felt compelled to write about my life in order to provide testimony, documentation about the Holocaust from an individual point of view. My goal was to provide an intense personal sentiment; a real life history. I wanted others to understand the necessity of actively working to end the hatred that leads to genocide. I hoped that people, especially young people, would read it and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others to stop the hatred.

Aish.com: What happened to your hatred?

BL: I had to make a decision. Hatred destroys your initiative. If I were consumed with hatred, how could I be a loving husband, father or make a good life for us? It is completely destructive to the mind and to the soul. The Nazis did not start with killings. It all started from hateful words. And hateful words in any context… school bullying for example, create an environment of hatred. It is a product of ignorance. And that is a large part of our mission – to stop the ignorance. To teach. To contribute to the healing of others. Love overpowers hate more than anything. I understand that power and actively use it. The Nazi massacre gave me the foundation that my life has been built upon.

Aish.com: Where do you see Zachor five years from now?

BL: We would love to see an on-site learning center, and have more funds to educate about the Holocaust and how it relates to today, through scholarships to teachers and learning institutions. We also have a section on the site called “I SHOUT OUT!” We would like six million I SHOUT OUTS to speak for the more than 6 million who were silenced.

Aish.com: Have you been back to Poland?

BL: Yes, in 2005 I went with myfamily so they would see where they came from. While on route it stirred up feelings in me which I cannot describe in words, emotions which I did not know were still confined in me. Suddenly I saw images of the past which were etched deep into my memory. Visions of black uniforms, swastikas , sirens, Gestapo, SS, shiny black boots, dogs, pistols, rifles, screams, shouts, whips, reflections of fire, smoke vivid memories of the ashes of Birkenau, selections, mountains of corpses all around me, children savagely torn from their mothers, furnaces, fire pits, frighten faces, hunger, starvation, gas chambers, barbwire, Kapo’s, shovels, picks, and sledge hammers, freezing cold, dying faces, bulging eyes, death march, cattle cars, bunkers, attics, beatings, lice, vermin, latrines. My head was spinning and I heard loud speakers yelling—JUDEN RAUS, ACHTUNG! LOS LOS, RAUS SCHNELL! The KAPOS yelling ZUM APPEL PLAC! DIE MUTZE ABNEHMEN! DER COMMANDANT YELLING DU VERFLUCHTE JUDEN? SCHWEINHUNT. If you don’t know the meaning of any those words, consider yourselves lucky.

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About the Author

Quirky, no-nonsense, funny, Marnie – writer, editor, author, lecturer, clinician, and administrator -- is a straight-shooter, who has a distinctive voice and takes on the world in her columns, features, and books. Her advice column was syndicated through Tribune Media Services, and it currently appears in Singular magazine as Singular Solutions. Marnie has written over 20 books/calendars, including the series “A Little Joy, A Little Oy." Her books include Yiddishe Mamas: The Truth About the Jewish Mother and A Little Joy, A Little Oy (pub. AndrewsMcMeel). She is also an award-winning “calendar queen” having written over 20. She has been nominated for both an Emmy and Writers Guild award.Thefullwiki.org has listed Marnie Macauley on their list of top Jewish_American writers, dead or living. (She’s still deciding which.) She was also chosen as a Distinguished Woman in Las Vegas in March of 2014.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 9

(8)
Linda Korn,
October 2, 2014 4:29 PM

As producer of Ben's Audiobook, I shout out to REMEBER. Zachor

I had the particular blessing of being found by Ben Lesser's daughter, Gail Gerber , to help make their dream of an audiobook of Ben's book, Living a Life That Matters- a reality. As producer/director of the audiobook, I had to keep my cool in order to pay attention to the script and the sound, as we traversed the harsh realities of the Holocaust, before, during and after. With Ben at my side while, Jonathan Silverman narrated the bulk of the book, I could feel the memories jump out of Ben's heart and into the small control room where we listened. We got the pronunciations right, but most important, we remembered- together! And we will continue to remember, and we must make sure the world does not develop "amnesia". Thank you Ben for being a voice for peace and tolerance. You are extraordinary.

(7)
Rita Forbes,
May 4, 2014 12:01 AM

Unbelievable, even today!!!!

Wonderful article...we are hoping to move to Las Vegas as soon as our house sells....I would love to volunteer in any capacity you may have. G-d bless you...We were the recipient of your wonderful Mandelbrot last year. Looking forward to meeting you...I have heard wonderful things about you from the Zini's, who are dear friends....

(6)
surie,
April 28, 2014 4:57 PM

Kol Hakvoed

Thank you for sharing your special story. may Hashem give many healthy years, may you continue to have nachas from your family.

Kol Hakavoed.

PS i would love to have my 92 year old father interviewd .

please get in touch me thriugh Aish.

Chazak,

Surie

(5)
Benjamin lido,
April 27, 2014 4:59 PM

You are a living blessing

I share with my 3 children and they study it in Hebrew school- I will buy your book- with love BL h

(4)
Anonymous,
April 27, 2014 4:52 PM

We talk about PTSD in regard to soldiers returning from the theater of war what we fail to remember is that our people who survived the Nazi horrors got no therapy. They were expected to go back to what is considered normal and make a life without getting the horror out of their system or their minds. Ben, you are a marvel. how fortunate for you that your experience didn't destroy your clarity and priorities. You are a HERO and a holy man.

rebecca,
April 27, 2014 11:19 PM

PTSD/ An Epidemic

I also thought about our soldiers, many whom are suffering with PTSD, when reading this moving article. Perhaps the psychiatric/psychology movement needs to take a lesson from this and instead of pumping up our soldiers with dangerous psycho-tropic drugs they should support our men and women soldiers to pursue lives with meaning, for that is most powerful healer indeed.

(3)
Lisa,
April 27, 2014 5:05 AM

Brave & Lucky

So lucky to have survived...& brave to tell your story. Zachor is so important....we must all keep spreading that word.

(2)
Jackie Young,
April 25, 2014 2:55 PM

A very moving story

Hello Ben we read your story with great interest I myself was in a camp called Terezin as a baby of 9 months ,Faye Beyeler is my wifes cousin and if you put into google my Austrian name ( jona spiegel ) it tells about my struggle with my past

(1)
Arthur Pais,
April 24, 2014 2:27 PM

Holocaust survivor

I speak about my experiences during the Holocaust at schools,churches and clubs.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!